In this morning’s GlobalShop session, The Slower you Move, The Faster You Die (taken as a quote from George Clooney in the movie Up in the Air): What the Acceleration of Just About Everything Means for Retail and Shopping, Dr. David Bosshart captivated us with his detailed analysis about what it means to be in retail in 2012. And he was able to make the presentation riveting, despite it being 8:30am.

Bosshart shared so much amazing content it was hard for this blogger to keep up (and 6 pages of notes later, I still wanted more!). Here are just some of Bosshart’s startling and inspiring revelations:

People in big cities move 10-30 percent faster than they did 10 years ago.

Just 10 years ago we were in Internet cafes, now we have 1.2 billion mobile Internet users globally.

25 years ago we chewed 25 times before swallowing when eating our food, now we chew 10 times before swallowing.

7 million people are open to migrating each year – either to Europe or U.S.

The more rich you become, the less kids you have.

In today’s world, husbands and kids are a luxury accessory for women in the U.S. and Europe.

What’s happening in retail is what we saw happen in the financial markets. We must become more flexible and flow with customer needs. Customers are the experts.

The first 2-3 seconds are the most important when a customer enters a store, retailers must employ mood management by creating a feeling for them.

When 18-24 month old babies are given a Blackberry, they immediately try to swipe the touchscreen.

Fourth quarter iPhone sales; more iPhones sold than babies born annually.

Four most amazing companies: Apple, Amazon , Google, Facebook are amazing because they perfectly manage the customer relationship.

If you meet the expectations of the female consumer you might exceed the expectations of the male consumer. Female is more resilient, robust and the male is very efficient. Our economy is becoming more of a blend of the two rather than just efficient focused.

Bosshart also gave the audience two prime examples of retailers that are keeping up with the accelerated marketplace and utilizing creativity to keep customers engaged. Mark & Spencer has a 100 percent eco-store with a living wall for insects and all organic goods, and Homeplus in South Korea (owned by Tesco) that allows customers to place their grocery orders in the subway and have it delivered by the time they get home (or close to).

Predictions for the future? Amazon will at some point open a brick and mortar store (as it has long been speculated). Bosshart encourages retailers to utilize all ways to connect with customers – both online and in-store.

I know! My brain was ready to explode by the end of it. But it was one of the best sessions I experienced. Dr. Bosshart is pretty phenomenal. Hope to see you at GlobalShop in 2013. This was our best year yet!